


Into the Shadows

by ViewFromTheVault



Category: Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 - Fandom, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, Archeologist Liara, Biotic Shepard (Mass Effect), Biotics (Mass Effect), Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Custom Shepard (Mass Effect), Established Shepard/Garrus Vakarian, Gen, Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker, Nihlus Kryik Lives, POV Shepard (Mass Effect), Rating May Change, Shepard (Mass Effect) has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, but they haven't sealed the deal yet, like I'm throwing the canon out the window and making the shadow broker dlc I want, maybe--we'll see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:08:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26575792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViewFromTheVault/pseuds/ViewFromTheVault
Summary: Rhea Shepard gets a call from Liara T'Soni that her stalker has broken into her apartment. When she arrives to confront the intruder she learns that he's actually an agent of the Shadow Broker, and he's not here for Liara. He's here for Shepard. Rhea and Liara join ranks once again to find answers, fight Spectres, and go after one of the most dangerous individuals in the galaxy. Just like old times...
Relationships: Female Shepard & Liara T'Soni, Nihlus Kryik & Female Shepard, Nihlus Kryik & Shepard, Shepard & Liara T'Soni, Shepard/Garrus Vakarian
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. The Stalker

The audience applauded as Liara backed away from the podium and hurried off stage. Rhea started up her own ovation as she approached. The asari, breathless and blushing, waved off the gesture. 

“I’ve given lectures for years and they still haven’t gotten any easier,” she gasped.

“I’ve never sat through an entire lecture before, but if no one steps forward to fund your dig then they’ve made a huge mistake,” said Rhea.

Liara laughed, “Well if no one does then perhaps you can be the benefactor?”

“I’m sure Cerberus will love to know that all the credits they’re giving me are being put to good use,” Rhea chuckled. She stopped laughing when she noticed Liara looking over her shoulder toward the crowd that was beginning to file out of the hall. Rhea stood next to her and followed her gaze. From their vantage point backstage they could see people irritably pushing past a drell who had stood up but didn’t make a move to leave. He was facing their direction.

A crease formed in Rhea’s brow. “Creepy. Friend of yours?”

“Hardly, I’ve never spoken to him,” said Liara. “For the past week I’ve been seeing him everywhere, he’s attended all of my talks and appeared at various locations I’ve visited. All the while watching me but never approaching.”

Rhea’s lip curled. “Sounds like your run of the mill stalker. Do you think he knows where you live?”

Liara shook her head. “No, at least I don’t think he does,” she murmured.

A salarian passed in front of the drell and just like that, he vanished. The two of them scanned the lecture hall and even backstage where they stood, but to no avail. The drell was gone. A shiver ran down Rhea’s spine. By now she was used to Thane disappearing like that to escape the hubbub on the Normandy, but it was unsettling in this context.

“Aaand there go my alarm bells. Want me to take you back to your place?” 

Liara shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ll be fine.” Her shifting eyes weren’t convincing.

“Seriously, Liara, if you think you need my help with this guy I’ll help you,” Rhea pressed.

Liara gave Rhea her full attention. “I’m not as naive as I used to be, Shepard. I’ve gotten along just fine these last two years, I don’t accidentally set off booby traps at the first sign of trouble anymore,” she said, puffing up. “I’ve even had to deal with the odd poacher attack on a few of my digs on my own.”

Rhea grinned, arching a brow and said, “Liara T’Soni, archeologist, savior of the Citadel and badass nerd. I like it.”

“It’s Dr. Badass Nerd to you,” Liara shot back, flashing a grin of her own. She had gotten better at picking up on human jokes and jargon over the last two years. “Besides, the mission you’re supposed to be on is kind of a big deal in case you’ve forgotten.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Rhea groaned as she rolled her shoulders. Her joints have been stiff ever since she woke up in the Lazarus Research Station. She clapped a hand on Liara’s shoulder. “Take care, nerd.”

“You too, Shepard.”

With that, Rhea started toward the exit, but not before whirling around and pointing a finger back at Liara. “Seriously though, if that guy gives you trouble you fucking call me.”

Liara shook her head with a smile. “I’m sure I won’t need to but I’ll keep that in mind,” she said. Rhea nodded and turned back towards the exit.

That evening she stood in the docking bay monitoring the last of the cargo being transferred into the Normandy with mess sergeant Gardner. “You do know how to cook this stuff, right?” she asked, gesturing to the dextro food being loaded.

“‘Course I can!” Gardner cried, genuinely affronted. “I’ve been making dextro meals ever since Vakarian came aboard and he never once complained.”

“Right,” said Rhea, remembering the hidden stash of rations she spied in the main battery the last time she visited Garrus.

“Hey, he said he loved that turian cake I baked him last month!” he argued.

“Told me it was dry as fuck,” Rhea countered.

Gardner harrumphed and stomped toward the ship and Rhea followed not far behind. Once inside she made a left toward the cockpit where she found Joker bickering with EDI, the ship’s AI. 

“Is everything ready to go on this end?” she asked, cutting the argument short.

“Yeah, we can take off as soon as you give the okay,” muttered Joker. “Remind me again why we’re going back to Omega? Couldn’t get enough mercs shooting missiles at you?”

“We’re looking for an ardat yakshi,” said Rhea.

Joker scrunched up his face at the word.

“A space vampire.”

“You know in other circumstances I’d be surprised by this but honestly? Just another day with you at this point.”

Rhea turned at the sound of rushed footsteps and saw yeoman Chambers hurrying toward her.

“Commander,” she called, “there’s a Liara T’Soni wanting to speak with you over the comms. She said it was urgent.”

 _That can’t be good_ , Rhea thought. She told Chambers she’d take the call in her quarters and ran for the elevator. 

Her space hamster, Tucker, squeaked a greeting as she entered and rushed to her computer to set up communication. A screen slid down in front of the model ship display above the desk in front of her, though where it ought to have brought up live video feed of Liara, the screen remained black as though someone had turned the camera off on the other end. She could hear someone breathing heavily.

“Liara?” Rhea asked, wary of who might answer.

“Shepard, have you left Illium yet?” Liara breathed, making Rhea’s shoulders relax slightly. At least she was still alive.

“Why can’t I see you?” said Rhea.

“Listen, I don’t think it’s safe to talk like this. I’m sending my apartment’s address to your omni-tool, get here as soon as you can,” Liara said before ending the call. Rhea swore. Her omni-tool pinged and she told Chambers over the intercom to hail a skycar, then threw her armour on as quick as she could. She strapped on her weapons in the armoury when she got back to the second level of the ship and told Joker to park it until she got back as she made for the airlock.

“But what about the space vampire?” Joker hollered at her back.

“She can wait!” Rhea called over her shoulder. The skycar was waiting faithfully for her outside and she was already barking orders to the voice-activated system before she was all the way in the car. The vehicle rose to the air and zoomed out of the port. Colourful lights from various buildings and advertisements blurred together as they passed, but the only image Rhea saw was of a stranger standing motionless in a bustling crowd.

***

It had grown dark by the time she reached Liara’s apartment. Rhea banged on her door as her other hand hovered over her holstered pistol. She was about to bust through the door when it finally slid open.

“Shepard, I—were you going to break down my door?” cried Liara.

Rhea, boot still in the air poised for a kick, was dumbfounded at the question. “ _Yes?_ ”

“Get in here,” Liara huffed and pulled Rhea into the building by the arm. She looked around outside before closing and locking the door. “Were you followed?”

“No,” said Rhea impatiently. She scanned the inside of the apartment. The blinds were drawn on the spacious windows and furniture in the kitchen and dining area had been toppled. Food and utensils were scattered across countertops as well as the floor. It looked as though a struggle had occurred while Liara was cooking dinner. 

“Will you tell me what the fuck is going on?” she demanded.

Liara tore herself away from the front door security camera. Her eyes were wide and she was nearly bouncing with adrenaline. “Do you remember that drell we saw at my lecture earlier today?” she asked.

“The one that’s been stalking you for days? Who did that freaky disappearing thing you see in the movies? Hard to fucking miss.”

Liara held up a finger then scurried toward a nearby closet. She slid it open and bent to grab something large and heavy. Rhea’s jaw nearly bounced off her toes as the asari dragged an unconscious drell who was bound at the wrists from inside the closet. That very same drell that was from the lecture hall.

“Holy shit!” Rhea breathed. “You really are a badass nerd.” Liara grinned at her mischievously as she propped the drell up against a sofa.

“How did you knock him out?” Rhea asked.

Liara went into the kitchen and pulled a frying pan from the sink. There was a large dent across the flat part of the pan. “He snuck up behind me and I panicked.”

“You _threw_ a frying pan at him?”

“Not my best moment,” Liara admitted. “Hitting him with a stasis attack would have been the better option, but that’s not why I asked you to come here.”

“Your stalker breaking into your house wasn’t the reason why you called me?” said Rhea.

“No, it’s what he said.”

“What did he say?”

Liara’s giddiness sobered. “He was asking questions about you.”


	2. The Agent

The drell still hadn’t awakened. Rhea half wondered if they shouldn’t just take him to a hospital and conduct an interrogation there. It was easier to see his features up close than it was staring at him from across the lecture hall. His complexion was similar to that of a rainbow with tiny scales transitioning from red, yellow all the way to blue. The shimmering colours made it hard to notice any bruising, and there weren’t any bumps that looked like they shouldn’t be there, so she was optimistic. His red, white and black leather suit and jacket was a similar fashion to what Thane wore. She wondered if this guy was just as dangerous.

 _Why would he want to know about me?_ It’s not like her entire life wasn’t an extranet search away. And if it was her he was looking for then why bother Liara? She was half tempted to shake the man awake to get to the bottom of all these questions sooner.

Instead, she and Liara took turns watching him and cleaning up the kitchen from her scuffle.On Liara’s shift, Rhea toured around her place. The apartment wasn’t large, but it was spacious with a main floor and a set of stairs that could have led to a bedroom. Most of the wall space was taken up by windows that would have showed off a brilliant view of Illium had Liara not closed the shutters in her paranoia. There wasn’t much for clutter or decoration which meant that the asari was either very neat and tidy, or she didn’t spend much time here. 

What decor she did have were displays of what looked to be relics from past excavations. A large painting depicting an alien landscape, which on closer inspection turned out to be Ilos, hung by the entrance. _I wonder when she had this commissioned,_ Rhea idly thought.

She doubled back to the living room where a display case caught her eye. Inside was a charred piece of armour, what was left of a back plate. What set this piece off from the rest of the collection was that it appeared to have been from this decade. And familiar.

“Is… this mine?” she asked Liara, pointing at the plate.

Liara looked almost embarrassed as she stood from the couch and moved to where Rhea was standing. “Yes,” she said, “I recovered it from the crash site.”

Rhea’s stomach tied up in knots. She could see the perfect outline of the beam she collided with etched into the back plate when an explosion tossed her out of the Normandy SR1. That same collision that had cut the line to her oxygen supply. Her throat began to tighten and she pulled at the collar of her under suit. The one thing that convinced her that she was human and not some robot programmed to think they were Rhea Shepard was the memory of her lungs burning from the inside out as she flailed helplessly through space, eyes bulging both from terror and suffocation. You could recreate memories convincing enough to be thought real, but there was no way for Cerberus to have fabricated a memory that vivid.

She squeezed her eyes shut, focusing on the feeling of her feet firm on the floor and breathed deep breaths that filled her diaphragm and left her body in sighs. Her eyes didn’t open again until her heartbeat slowed and her throat loosened. When they did Liara’s eyes were looking back at her, crinkled with worry.

“Are you alright, Shepard?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” Rhea croaked, “why do you have it?” She waved a hand back at the display case.

Liara looked down at the floor. “When you—when _it_ all happened, none of it seemed real, so I did what I do best I suppose, dig up ruins. I had volunteered to help recover any remains of lost crew members. I thought doing so would provide closure of some sort, but,” she trailed off, rubbing her arm. “All I found of you were pieces of your armour. No body. It left us with more questions than anything. The pieces that were more intact were kept by some of the old crew.”

Rhea nodded. She had received her old helmet from Councillor Anderson shortly after he reinstated her Spectre status. “A reminder of what you’re fighting for,” said the message sent with the thing. It was currently jammed into the back of the bathroom closet in her quarters. It wasn’t serving up the memories Anderson had intended. He never mentioned that others had pieces of her armour, too.

“That probably sounds grim,” said Liara, “but not finding a body made me hold onto the hope that you could still be alive.” She gave Rhea a sad smile. “What Cerberus did was unethical, but it really is good to see you again.”

A dry laugh escaped Rhea’s lips. “Tell that to my stiff ass joints,” she said, rolling a shoulder to make her point. “The doctor could have at least finished putting me all the way back together before trying to blow me up.”

“He tried to wh—” Liara’s question was cut off as Rhea held up a hand and looked back at the couches. The drell was gone.

“Shit!” cried Rhea as she bolted for the now opened door. She looked up and down the halls of the building and caught sight of a red, white and black jacket disappearing around the corner. She and Liara gave chase throughout the apartment with Liara attempting to stop him with her stasis attacks, but he was too fast. They flew past other tenants either coming in from a long day’s work or poking their heads out of doors to see what was going on. They reached the lobby, past a perturbed doorman and found themselves standing alone in the night.

This proved to be a problem. There isn’t as much artificial lighting in this part of the city compared to its heart, so more shadows. If he was able to disappear like Thane could then there was a good chance he had similar training and used the darkness to his advantage. Skycars whizzed by as she looked up and down the street eyes straining for a sign. Anything.

Liara caught sight of him running up the street. He was far enough away that chances of losing him were high. “He’s going to get away!” she cried.

“Like hell he is,” said Rhea. She cleared her mind like Samara had taught her as she built up a biotic aura around her body. Coiled like a spring, she directed her energy to her legs, then charged forward. She shot like a bullet through the street, straight for the drell. She stretched her arms toward him and tackled him full force. He grunted, in surprise or pain she hadn’t the time to tell as inertia compelled them to keep moving forward. She kept a death grip around his chest as they rolled and bounced several feet before coming to an eventual stop. He wriggled underneath her and she pulled herself up, pinning him down with a knee. He groaned and a hand made a move for his jacket and she pulled out her pistol and pointed it at his head.

“Try it, I dare you,” she hissed and the hand moved away. She used her free hand to grab what the drell was reaching for and took a gun from his belt. “A guy who’s been following my friend around for the last week breaks into her house armed, shit really isn’t looking good for you right now, pal.”

All she got in reply was another grunt.

They remained in that position until Liara caught up again. Rhea handed her the drell’s pistol which she kept aimed at him whilst Rhea pulled him to his feet. “You can walk, right?” Rhea asked as she did so.

The drell’s voice rumbled with irritance as he replied, “You attack me with biotics and kitchenware and now you’re asking if I’m hurt?”

“Funny, it’s like you’ve forgotten the part where you broke into my home,” Liara said in a clipped tone.

“Strange the things we forget about when bludgeoned,” he shot back.

“I didn’t ask if you were hurt, I asked if you could walk,” said Rhea. “That way I won’t have to drag your sorry ass back inside and up all those stairs.” She flashed him a mischievous grin. “Or would you prefer that?”

The drell sighed defeated, “I’ll walk.” Rhea nodded and they made their way back to the apartment building.

***

“Is this really necessary?” the drell asked, pulling against the ropes that kept him securely bound to a kitchen chair.

“We’ll be the ones asking questions,” Liara growled.

The drell snorted. “Good luck.”

“We’ll start with an easy one,” said Rhea. “Who are you?”

“Blasto,” he sneered.

Rhea smirked. “Funny, shame I’m not in the mood for funny. Keep pissing me off and you’re gonna wish I was,” she warned.

“I’m not afraid of you, Shepard,” he spat.

She cracked her knuckles. “I’ll remedy that, then,” she said before landing a punch against his jaw just hard enough to get the point across. “Wanna try again with that name?”

The drell rotated his jaw and shot her a glare. “Feron and that’s all you’re getting.”

“I’m feeling pretty greedy today.”

“What’s that human saying? ‘Gimme gimme never gets?’”

With a well placed kick the chair fell to its side and Feron groaned as his shoulder made contact with the floor.

“Sorry,” said Rhea, “no one bothered to teach me manners.” She walked around him and crouched by his face. “Feel like telling me more yet?”

“You’re making this more difficult that it has to be, just tell us why you’ve been following me and why you want to know about Shepard so bad,” added Liara from behind her.

“You’re going to have to try harder to get me to talk,” Feron spat.

Rhea nodded and signalled to Liara as she stood. Liara held out her hand and it began to glow blue. A similar aura enveloped Feron and he was lifted from the floor. Liara used her biotics to suspend him upside down in the air.

Looking him eye to eye, Rhea put her hands on her hips and said, “Don’t patronize me, Feron. I’ve killed people far less annoying than you and I have no qualms about doing the same to you.”

“That doesn’t sound like the Hero of the Citadel,” said Feron.

“Toss him out the window, Liara.”

Feron’s eyes widened and his mouth opened and closed with no sound coming out. Liara gave her a questioning look as well and Rhea replied with a “just go with it” nod. She looked back at Feron and flashed a smile. “Gladly,” she said as she began moving toward the windows, all the while the drell sputtered that they were bluffing and that they wouldn’t do it. It all fell on deaf ears.

Liara raised the window shutters and he finally shrieked, “Okay fine! I’ll tell you whatever you want to know just put me the fuck down!”

Liara grinned back at Rhea and set him down proper on the floor.

“See, what was so hard about that?” Rhea said. “Now let’s cut the crap and get down to why you’ve been bothering Liara to give you info on me?”

Feron shook his head. “They’re going to get me for this,” he muttered. “But you’re gonna kill me if I don’t so here it is; I’m an agent for the Shadow Broker.”

Now that was something Rhea wasn’t expecting to hear and she wasn’t sure if she should be relieved that he wasn’t just a creep or wary that he worked for one of the most dangerous people in space. What would the Shadow Broker want with her? Were they sending agents after her to get payback for not handing over information they had asked for two years ago? There was no way holding back a few files warranted this. “What would the Shadow Broker want to know about me that they wouldn’t already know?” she asked.

Feron shrugged. “They never gave the specifics on why, just that I was to gather intel on you. I thought that I’d be able to scare some info out of Dr. T’Soni since she was the last person that would have been in contact with you.”

Liara scowled at him. “I was easy pickings for you?”

“I thought so,” he grimaced.

“I’m going to toss him out the window now,” Liara huffed.

Rhea held up her hand. “Not yet,” she said, “he can still be of use to us.” She bent in front of him and placed a hand on the chair back at either side of his head. “Any idea where the Broker lives?”

Feron looked mortified. “You’re joking,” he breathed.

“I told you I wasn’t in the mood for jokes,” she said with a smile. “If the Broker wants to know about me so bad then why not get it from the source?”

“Even if I did know where the Broker’s lair is, there's no way they’ll let me live for telling you,” said Feron, fear in his eyes.

“Do you know anyone who would know?” she asked.

“Are you forgetting the part where they will have me killed for this?”

“I could feed you to my krogan instead, he’s a growing boy.”

Feron shook his head frantically. “You aren’t taking any of this seriously,” he breathed.

“I’m taking this _very_ seriously,” Rhea said. “Anyone who messes with me and mine has to answer to me personally.”

“What about the Collectors, Shepard?” asked Liara.

“If the Shadow Broker’s sending people to spy on me then it could affect my mission, might as well nip it in the bud. Do you have a guy that can help us or not, Feron?”

Feron hung his head and heaved a heavy sigh, “Yes, his name’s Sekat and you’re in luck because he works at Baria Frontiers in the Dracon Trade Center here on Illium.”

Rhea bent to work at his bindings. “Good, give him a call.”

He looked at his freed wrists and eyed her suspiciously. “Just like that you’re letting me go?”

“It’ll be difficult dragging you around town tied to a chair, but if you try anything and—”

“Yeah, yeah, you’ll toss me out the window,” he quipped.

“Actually these windows aren’t able to open,” Liara chimed in. “Rest assured we didn’t make the krogan up, though. I’m told Grunt has quite the appetite.” She smirked at Feron’s realization of being tricked.

He muttered something about not being paid enough credits to deal with this shit as he powered up his omnitool and called Sekat and set it to speaker. The irritated voice on the other line spoke in the quick manner of a salarian.

“Feron, I’m up to my elbows in star charts. This better be important!” the voice snapped.

“Believe me, Sekat, if my life didn’t literally depend on it right now I wouldn’t be calling you,” said Feron. Rhea rotated her hand in the “get on with it” gesture and he rolled his eyes and said, “Remember when you told me you could pinpoint the exact location of the Shadow Broker’s base faster than an elcor could say ‘hello?’”

There was a pause, then a cautious, “Yes.”

Rhea and Liara exchanged a look of excitement.

“Good,” Feron continued, “because I need those coordinates right now.”

“What?” The omnitool’s speaker crackled at the sharp tone. “Have you lost your sense? If I do this for you then my face will be wiped from existence!”

“I wouldn’t be asking if it wasn’t important,” said Feron.

“You shouldn’t be asking at all! They could be sending agents to kill me as we speak!”

Rhea grabbed Feron’s wrist and spoke into the omnitool, “Sekat, this is Commander Shepard. I’m looking for the Shadow Broker and Feron says you’re the only one he knows who can.”

“Shepard?” cried Sekat. “I thought she died two years ago.”

“You shouldn’t believe everything you hear on the news.”

“And what if you really are Commander Shepard? Why should I help you?” he asked.

“I understand your reluctance to work with me, but believe me when I say I won’t let any harm come to you and that you will be rewarded handsomely for your cooperation,” said Rhea. If Cerberus had to fund her detour it was no skin off her back.

The line remained silent save for incoherent muttering here and there until Sekat said, “Alright, alright I’ll do it, but you better get here quick before anyone else does. I’ll be in my office, don’t be late.” There was a click and Sekat was gone.

Rhea released Feron’s wrist and adjusted the belt on her armour. “Progress at last. I’ll hail a cab and we’ll meet with Sekat ASAP.”

“Great,” said Liara. “I’ll go get ready.”

Rhea raised her brow. “And where are you going?” she asked.

Liara stopped halfway up the stairs to her room and looked at her as though the answer were obvious. “With you of course!”

“What about your dig? That’s why you couldn’t come with me in the first place,” said Rhea.

“Well, I have a whole week to prepare for my dig, and this is the most excitement I’ve had in ages!” she babbled. “A small side track to hunt down the Shadow Broker couldn’t hurt.”

“It could hurt a lot, actually,” said Feron.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back with an exciting update, and a beefier chapter than the first! Very dialogue heavy as I learn that I just love having characters talk to each other, perhaps too much.
> 
> I know it's pretty early in the fic to ask this, but I'd love to know what y'all think so far. Are you liking where the story is headed, or that I turned Feron into a bit of a sass master? Lmao it sure beats being strapped to a torture chair for two years, or would being strapped to a chair talking to Rhea and Liara for a few minutes be worse?
> 
> As always thank you so much for reading and I will talk to you again in the next chapter!!

**Author's Note:**

> My first crack at a Mass Effect fic! Never thought my first would be a Shadow Broker rewrite, but it'll be shorter than a ME3 rewrite so here we are. Long story short I wasn't super satisfied with the ending of the LOTSB dlc and have decided to give the whole thing a face lift.
> 
> Might as well call me Jesus cause I'll be taking the wheel on this ride. I hope y'all will join me in this adventure as well!


End file.
